I have been cleaning up my sewing room (I was going to type “again”, but it is “still”). I have come to realize that if I sew, it will always need redecluttered as “A Slob Comes Clean” would put it. I am fine with that. It means I have been doing something I love that brings me great happiness.
Last night I finished the quilting and binding of the “Ugly Quilt”. My husband likes this one a lot. He has rarely commented on any of my quilts, but when he saw this one as a top, he said he really liked it. It is from Karen Brown’s video, “what to do with ugly fabric”. That’s why I call it the Ugly Quilt. It is made from 29 men’s shirts (one was accidentally repeated). It measures 61” x 90”. It will be washed and dried today and delivered tomorrow. Here it is over my quilt frame rod.
The arrows in the second picture show the edges of the block. It is random but planned as well.
During the straightening up of my sewing room, I found not one but THREE more shirt quilts in process. I bought a rolling 8-drawer cart on Amazon to house my WIPs. It will be so helpful for scrap quilts. I am thoroughly pleased with it. Each drawer is designed for scrapbook paper. I think the dimensions are 13.5” x 16.5”. Perfect for scrap pieces or finished blocks. When I sit down to sew, I just put the whole drawer on the little surface beside me for easy access. When I am finished sewing for the time being, I just slide the drawer back into the cart. This will definitely help me corral my ongoing projects.
Here is one of the WIPs (works in progress) I uncovered. Well, 25 of these blocks, only the colored parts. There are 80 in the final quilt. They will be “drawered” and worked on soon. Soon, as in I know where they are and have started cutting strips of light shirts to add to the sides. I made this one a few years back for my daughter in Alabama, so I call it Alabama Bound. The real name is Virginia Bound. A Bonnie Hunter pattern. This is one of the few quilts I’ve made more than once (to my knowledge), and this is my third. It is perfect for using up those little oddly-shaped shirt pieces.
I also found a nearly-finished and already-laid-out portion of this quilt...the entire center!! This is just a couple rows. I can’t find a picture of the finished quilt. The white on the right is the sun shining on the pieces.
We had guests for meals/fellowship/games/etc three times last week. My son-in-law was recently ordained. One of the verses that was read more than once was “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach;” (I Timothy 3:2). Blameless does not mean perfect, but in good standing with everyone. When offenses have occurred, he has asked for forgiveness. The phrase “given to hospitality” stuck in my mind. Why should a bishop/pastor be given to hospitality? I don’t have the complete answer, but I know when I show hospitality, whether to friends, strangers, those needing a place to lay their weary heads on a journey (like the dramatic touch?), I feel like I have opened myself up to those people. Connections are made that won’t be made in any other setting. I spend energy and time preparing not only food but a welcoming environment for them. I let them see us for just who we are. One of our guests last week was a new family to our church. Two very young parents and a sweet 3-year-old. They were here Friday night for hours. When I saw them at church on Sunday, there were smiles of connection and remembrance of the enjoyable time we had shared. It would have taken years to get to that point if our only contact was at our church services.
Ironically, my daughter (same SIL’s wife) is doing a Bible study on hospitality. She is teaching a ladies’ Sunday school class at her church. She sent me the outline of her notes. It is wonderful, focusing on what resulted from different times of fellowship in the New Testament. So go forth and be hospitable.
